Thursday, September 24, 2009

Goal 100 was to read 10 books off the most banned/challenged list. I finished the first today. I read The Color Purple. It has all the major push-buttons for challenges (sex, religion, race, dialect usage), so I'm not surprised it made the list. This is definitely an English class book -- lots of themes and stuff to discuss. Wasn't a tedious read, but I'm not likely to reread or think about it ever again.

28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey - not sure, may have read

29. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

30. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

31. On the Road by Jack Kerouac

32. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

33. The Call of the Wild by Jack London - It hnk

34. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

35. Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

36. Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin

37. The World According to Garp by John Irving

38. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren

39. A Room with a View by E. M. Forster

40. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

41. Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally -saw the movie

42. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

43. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

44. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce

45. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

46. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

47. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

48. Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence

49. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

50. The Awakening by Kate Chopin

51. My Antonia by Willa Cather - not sure, might have read

52. Howards End by E. M. Forster

53. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

54. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger

55. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie

56. Jazz by Toni Morrison

57. Sophie's Choice by William Styron

58. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner

59. A Passage to India by E. M. Forster

60. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

61. A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor

62. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

63. Orlando by Virginia Woolf

64. Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence

65. Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe

66. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

67. A Separate Peace by John Knowles

68. Light in August by William Faulkner

69. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James

70. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

71. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

72. A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

73. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs

74. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

75. Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence

76. Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe

77. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway

78. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein

79. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

80. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer

81. Wide Sargasso Seaby Jean Rhys

82. White Noise by Don DeLillo

83. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

84. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

85. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells

86. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad

87. The Bostonians by Henry James

88. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser

89. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather

90. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame - I think

91. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald

92. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

93. The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles

94. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis

95. Kim by Rudyard Kipling

96. The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

97. Rabbit, Run by John Updike

98. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster

99. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis

100. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

Wow! I haven't read very many of these. Of course, a lot of them are fairly familiar, so I'm not sure if I've read them or just read about them. There's at least 10 there that I've been meaning to read, so this goal shouldn't be too difficult.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Posting this because publicly stating goals tends to increase motivation...

The Mission:Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Food Related1. Make at least 2 different kinds of cheese (0/2)2. Preserve at least two foods by canning or pickling (0/2)3. Make no-knead bread4. Make butter5. Make yogurt6. Make jam (that keeps)7. Make jerky8. Make a soufflé9. Pack lunch every day for a week (0/5)10. Try 10 new foods (0/10)11. Enter a cooking/recipe contest

Crafts12. Knit or crochet a pair of socks13. Design and sew a quilt14. Make dipped and molded candles (0/2)15. Make paper16. Make soap17. Make lip balm18. Make a gourd bowl19. Make and fly a box kite20. Finish stain glass box21. Finish crocheted sweater22. Carve something (out of wood or soap)

Health & Safety23. Take a gun safety course; shoot a shotgun and a pistol24. Get CPR/AED Certified (Red Cross)25. Get First Aid certified (Red Cross)26. Assemble a complete disaster kit (Red Cross)27. Assemble a complete first aid kit (Red cross)28. Create an emergency preparedness & fire escape plan (Red Cross)29. Make a living will30. Make a will31. Get an IUD/implant/(semi) permanent birth control32. Get a general health checkup (not Ob-Gyn)

Skills33. Memorize Cannon in D for the piano34. Learn to tie 10 different knots (0/10)35. Learn how to splice rope

Art & Writing44. Write a song (instrumental) for piano or psaltery45. Write and submit a non-academic math article46. Paint a picture47. Draw (charcoal/pencil) picture48. Calligraphy a poem or saying49. Submit crossword puzzle for publication50. Revise and submit math article51. Write a short story (fan fic okay)52. Design a new board game

Buy53. Be fitted for a bra and replace ones that don't fit54. Spend $250 on something completely self-indulgent55. Get at least one piece of jewelry for specific outfit and wear it

Maintenance/Household56. Sort through clothes closet57. Set up an IRA58. Digitalize CD collection59. Trade 2 games not played for new games60. Get my laptop working properly

Physical Activities61. Take a martial arts class62. Do 100 consecutive sit-ups63. Do 50 consecutive push-ups64. Go to a yoga class65. Run 10k race

Social66. Dress up and go to a costume/Halloween party67. Send at least 6 handwritten letters/cards to grandparents (0/6)68. Host a dinner party for two other couples69. Do a (1 hour min) personal play date with: Olivia, Esme, John (0/3)70. Email or call my sister 2x a week for a month (0/8)71. Give 5 "just-because" gifts (0/5)

Ted & Self72. Watch 3 sunsets with Ted (0/3)73. See 3 sunrises (0/3)74. Meditate for 15 min /2x week for 8 consecutive weeks (0/16)75. Private76. Private77. No computer from 5pm Friday to Monday morning for 2 weekends (0/2)78. Journal every day for a week (0/7)79. Make a list of 101 things that make me happy (0/101)80. Plan and initiate 5 new dates with Ted (0/5)81. Have daily sex for a month (30 days)

House Related (all dependant on #82)82. Buy a house/condo83. Decorate a room84. Hang curtains (etc.) in at least 3 rooms85. Paint a room86. Buy a sofa87. Winterize the home: furnace/fireplace/calking88. Spring home maintenance: AC, screens, gutter89. Get fire extinguishers, smoke alarms, CO alarms as needed90. Hang pictures91. Get maid service or clean the bathrooms and kitchen 1 per month92. Change the locks

Books & Movies93. Finish reading the American Literature textbook94. Read 5 books recommended by friends, no matter what they are (0/5)95. Watch Hamlet96. See Jane97. Get and read the Kama-Sutra98. See Ben-Hur99. See or read a Clockwork Orange100. Read 10 new books off the banned classics list (0/10)101. Watch 5 documentaries (0/5)

101 Goals in 1001 Days List

Food Related1. [Done]Make at least 2 different kinds of cheese, [1,2] (1/2)2.[Done] Preserve at least two foods by canning or pickling, or freezing [1][2](1/2)3. [Done] Make no-knead bread4. [Done] Make butter5. Make yogurt6. Make jam (that keeps)7. Make jerky8. Make a soufflé9. [Done] Pack lunch every day for a week10. [Done] Try 10 new foods [1,2] [3,4], [5,6,7][8],[9], [10]11. Enter a cooking/recipe contest

Crafts12. Knit or crochet a pair of socks13. Design and sew a quilt14. Make dipped and molded candles (0/2)15. Make paper16. Make soap17. Make lip balm18. [Done] Make Chocolates (was make gourd bowl)19. Make and fly a box kite20. Finish stain glass box21. [Done] Finish knitted sweater22. Carve something (out of wood or soap)

Art & Writing44. Write a song (instrumental) for piano or psaltery45. Write and submit a non-academic math article46. Paint a picture47. Draw (charcoal/pencil) picture48. Calligraphy a poem or saying49. Submit crossword puzzle for publication50. Revise and submit math article51. Write a short story (fan fic okay)52. Design a new board game

Buy53. Be fitted for a bra and replace ones that don't fit54. Spend $250 on something completely self-indulgent55. Get at least one piece of jewelry for specific outfit and wear it

Maintenance/Household56. [done] Sort through clothes closet57. [done] Organize bookmarks (was Set up an IRA)58. Digitalize CD collection59. Trade 2 games not played for new games60. [done] Get my laptop working properly